champagne Sparkling wine. Named for the site of its origin, the Cham¬ pagne region of northeastern France, it is made from only three grapes: pinot and meunier (both black) and chardonnay (white). The juice from these grapes is initially fermented in stainless-steel vats. A mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast is added, and it is then transferred to pressure tanks for a second fermentation that yields carbon dioxide and effervescence. It is chilled, sweetened, bottled, and left to mature. It generally has a crisp, flinty taste that varies in degree of sweetness, depending on the type.
Champaigne \sha n -'pan y \, Philippe de (b. May 26, 1602, Brussels—d. Aug. 12, 1674, Paris, Fr.) Flemish-born French painter. Trained in Brussels, he arrived in Paris in 1621. His patrons included Louis XIII, Marie de Medicis, and Cardinal Richelieu, and he became the outstand¬ ing French portraitist of the Baroque period. He became a professor at the Royal Academy (1653) and produced many pieces for the palaces and churches of Paris. His finest work includes two portraits of Richelieu and various paintings for the Jansenist Convent of Port-Royal, especially the austere Ex-voto: Mother Agnes and Sister Catherine (1662), commemo¬ rating his daughter Catherine’s miraculous cure through Mother Agnes’s prayers.
Champlain \sham-'plan\, Lake Lake between Vermont and New York, U.S. Located on the states’ northern boundaries and extending into Canada about 6 mi (10 km), it is about 125 mi (200 km) long and has an area of 430 sq mi (1,115 sq km). It was visited in 1609 by Samuel de Champlain. In 1776 it was the scene of the first British-American naval battle and in 1814 of a U.S. naval victory over the British. A link in the waterway between New York City’s harbour and the lower St. Lawrence River, it is used extensively for commercial and pleasure-boat navigation.
Champlain, Samuel de (b. 1567, Brouage, France—d. Dec. 25, 1635, Quebec, New France) French explorer. He made several expedi¬ tions to North America before founding Quebec in 1608 with 32 colonists, most of whom did not survive the first winter. He joined with the north¬ ern Indian tribes to defeat Iroquois marauders and promoted the fur trade with the Indians. He discovered Lake Champlain in 1609 and made other explorations of what are now northern New York, the Ottawa River, and the eastern Great Lakes. English privateers besieged Quebec in 1628,
Chamomile (Anthemis tomentosa)
ANTHONY J. HUXLEY-EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
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when England and France were at war, and he was taken prisoner. In 1632 the colony was restored to France, and in 1633 Champlain made his last voyage to Quebec, where he lived until his death.
champleve \shau-l3-'va\ Decorative enameling technique. The process consists of cutting away cells or troughs in a metal plate and filling the depressions with pulverized vit¬ reous enamel. The raised metal lines between the cut-out areas form the design outline. Champleve was prac¬ ticed in the Celtic areas of western Europe in the Roman period. It flour¬ ished in the Rhine Valley near Cologne and in Belgium in the 11th—
12th century. The most notable enamelers were Nicholas of Verdun and Godefroid de Claire.
Champollion \sha n -p6l-'yo n \,
Jean-Francois (b. Dec. 23, 1790,
Figeac, France—d. March 4, 1832,
Paris) French scholar. He played a major role in the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Champollion was a linguistic prodigy who had immersed himself in Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Coptic as well as Greek and Latin by age 19. After study of the Rosetta Stone and other texts, Champollion demonstrated decisively in Summary of the Hieroglyphic System of the Ancient Egyptians (1825) that a phonetic value could be assigned to some hieroglyphs. He became curator of the Louvre’s Egyp¬ tian collection (1826) and conducted an archaeological expedition to Egypt (1828-30). See also Egyptian language.
Champs-Elysees \'shau-za-le-'za\ (French: “Elysian Fields”) One of the world’s most remarkable avenues, stretching 1.17 mi (1.88 km) from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, in Paris. It is divided into two parts by the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysees. The lower part, toward the Place de la Concorde, is surrounded by gardens, museums, theaters, and restaurants. The upper part, toward the Arc de Triomphe, was tradi¬ tionally a luxury commercial district. Twelve imposing avenues radiate to form a star ( etoile ) at the avenue’s upper end, with the Arc de Triomphe at its center; it was called Place de 1’Etoile from 1753 until 1970, when it was renamed Place Charles de Gaulle.
Chan Chan \'chan-'chan\ Ancient city, northern Peru. Located 300 mi (480 km) north of modem-day Lima, it was the capital of the Chimu, a pre-Incan civilization that flourished c. 1200-c. 1400. The ruins, which cover nearly 14 sq mi (36 sq km), consist of walled citadels containing temples, cemeteries, and gardens.
The successors of the Moche civili¬ zation, the Chimu came under the rule of the Incas c. 1465-70.
chancellor In western Europe, the title of holders of numerous offices of varying importance, ultimately political in nature. The prime ministers of Germany and Austria are called chancellors. In Britain the chancellor of the Exchequer is the cabinet member in charge of finance. In the U.S. the title is used mainly for the chief administrators of universities.
Chancellorsville, Battle of Military engagement of the American Civil War. In May 1863 near Chancellorsville, Va., the Union army in Vir¬ ginia, led by Joseph Hooker, attempted to encircle and destroy the Con¬ federate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee. The Union army was surprised by a flanking force under the command of Stonewall Jack- son. Three days of fighting ended in a Union retreat north of the Rappa¬ hannock River. The Union army lost more than 17,000 men in a force of 130,000; the Confederate army lost more than 12,000, including Jackson, in a force of 60,000.
chancery \'chan-so-re\ Court of public record and archive of state docu¬ ments. The chancery system of the Roman Empire served as the model
for the royal chanceries of medieval France and Germany. Medieval royal chanceries were headed by archchancellors and chancellors, who over¬ saw the work of scribes and notaries and sometimes served as advisers to the monarch.
Chancery, Court of See equity, chancellor
chancre \'shaq-kor\ Primary sore or ulcer at the site of entry of a patho¬ gen; specifically, the typical skin lesion of primary infectious syphilis. In women it is often internal and may go unnoticed. This single red papule (bump), usually occurring about three weeks after infection, and painless regional lymph-node swelling are the major signs of early-stage syphilis. Identification of Treponema pallidum in its fluid makes the diagnosis. The chancre heals in two to six weeks, but syphilis progresses unless treated with PENICILLIN.
Chandigarh Vchon-de-gorX City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 808,796) and union territory (pop., 2001 prelim.: 900,914), joint capital of Haryana and Punjab states, northern India. The territory, on the border between the two states, has an area of 44 sq mi (114 sq km). Located just south of the Shiwalik Hills, the site was selected to replace the former capital of Lahore, which became part of Pakistan at partition in 1947. The city was laid out in the 1950s by Le Corbusier in collaboration with Indian archi¬ tects. Today it is a major communications junction.